One week.

One week. It is hard to believe that one week from today, I will be back to a world that seems like a distant memory. I’ll be back to the “comforts” of home, yet leaving behind so many things that have become comfortable. So much about life in Uganda took some getting used to, but now are just a part of life here.

Just this morning, as I was locking one of the five padlocks that it takes to keep our house “secure,” I was thinking about how much I will miss every little detail of my time here. Most days when it is taking a good five minutes to lock up and leave, all that I can think about is how I cannot wait to get home where I can push a button to open my garage door and use one key to enter my home. Today, I was reflecting on how I will miss the way that every morning during this process, I am able to slow down and think. Back home my schedule is hurrying from one place to the next, not taking time to slow down and enjoy life. Life in Uganda is about relationships. In our “lock up” and walk up to House 1, Rebecca and I were starting to have the conversation about the things we will miss the most… Our list was a list of people.

When we arrived to House 1, Mato and Alex (Sozo Uganda staff) were outside sweeping. I told them that I just had a conversation with Rebecca about how much I would miss them when we left. Somehow in the midst of teams in and out all summer, they did not realize that we would be leaving Sunday. Their reaction was priceless. I asked how we could stay in touch, and Mato said, “Book face.” As conversations usually go, there was a lot of laughing, some learning of Luganda, and a lot of questions from the masomesas (teachers — evidently teachers are known for asking a lot of questions). When I told them that I wanted both of them to transport us to the airport on Sunday, Mato said he would not because “the tears will remain hidden.” I’m not sure that mine will.

I know that this week will fly by, as every other week in Uganda has, but I also know that it will be a long one. It is a week of good-byes. We will be going through our schedule, doing everything one last time. There will be tears and heartache, but I pray there will also be intentional conversations and an outpouring of love to those that God has called us to build relationships with this summer. I thank God for every moment this summer, as I know that I have been stretched and have grown in ways that I didn’t know was possible.

Please be praying for this last week, that my heart and mind will stay present where He has me now. God has already started to prepare my heart to leap back into another school year, as I am getting excited about the return to my own classroom. But, I don’t want to get the cart before the horse. God has me here for one more week. One week.

I pray that I am able to look back at the end of the week and say: “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:6-7

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

We are nearing the end of our summer in Uganda, and Rebecca and I are constantly asking one another, “Where did the time go?” It really seems like yesterday that we were just arriving, and now we are on the final two week countdown.

I am constantly amazed at how the Lord uses so many little details and weaves them together to perfectly orchestrate not only my life, but also the lives of those around me.

Two of my close friends from Birmingham arrived with a team on Saturday afternoon. Mallory, MaryBeth, and I go to church together and travel together on mission trips to Honduras. I was thrilled when they decided to come to Uganda while I was here this summer!

After seven weeks across the world from my home, it was a breath of fresh air to have familiar faces come (and bring peanut M&Ms) to just give encouragement and renewed energy and excitement for what God is doing through Sozo. It always means so much to have people that are close to you come and experience the things that are so near and dear to your heart, but you cannot put into words to describe to someone. Anyone who has spent time doing missions understands what I am talking about… I’ve enjoyed spending a little more time with the team this week since they are here.

A few stories from the past few days that I would like to share…

Every night for devotion at the Sozo houses, we gather for a time of worship, prayer, and studying scripture. We use a children’s devotional book to guide our time in the Word. Unfortunately, sometimes the examples and illustrations are really geared toward American culture, and our Sozo kids do not quite understand. Last night was one such night. The title of the devotion was “God’s Signature” and it used the illustration of having a football signed by 30 professional quarterbacks. Considering the fact that “football” in Uganda is a whole different sport, that one didn’t quite translate. The other illustration was about parents hanging children’s artwork on the refrigerator. Well, considering there is only a small ‘fridge that is probably not even magnetic at a house of 20+ kids, pictures don’t typically end up hanging there. The whole point of these illustrations was to remind us that it is not the item that makes something have value, but the signature on it.

It was a PERFECT lead in to an illustration that I was able to connect for the children. Rebecca and I have been working with the kids on drawing self-portraits to have at the Sozo fundraiser dinner as silent auction items. (You can get more information at www.sozochildren.org/dinner) I connected this devotion to that project. I told them that even though many of them were telling me that their self-portrait was not good and no one would buy it, I always tell them that the muzungus would love to have it! So at devotion, I was able to tell them that it is not about the artistic ability that they have, but the fact that they are the ones who created the art… that is what gives it value! Just like our lives are sometimes really messed up, and we think they are far from perfect, God chooses to use our lives and put His signature all over it. We are special and we have value because of our Creator. The God of the Universe created them EXACTLY as He wanted them to be: the shape of their eyes, the color of their skin, their personality… The God of the Universe handpicked all of it. Psalm 139:13-14 says, “For you formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”

Sadly today we were not able to teach with Margaret in the Village. The father of two of Margaret’s children became very ill and passed away on Sunday night. The burial was today, and so there was no class at her school today. Please be in prayer for Margaret, her children, and her family as they process through this loss.

Although it was not good circumstances, I loved getting to go with the team today to do ministry door to door in the village. It is always so neat to see believers from different cultures come together and encourage one another as the body of Christ.

Not only were we able to visit two awesome families, I personally checked another item off of my “Uganda Bucket List” for the summer: I carried a baby on my back like a true African. Sweet baby Susan was only three months old and was a trooper!

I still covet your prayers specifically for good health and rest for my last two weeks. There have been a lot of sick children and interns, so pray for healing and for the illness to stop spreading, despite close living quarters. Pray that I will make the most of my time here, and that I will be sensitive to the Lord’s direction and leading. Pray for the relationships that I have formed with teachers in the schools, and that I will have opportunities to share my faith with them boldly. And pray that God will start to prepare my heart for the transition back to my home in America when it does come time to leave.

"Teacher Rauren!"

July 8, 2014

Village day! Since The Jesus Storybook Bible was such a hit last week at Margaret’s school, we decided to plan a very similar day using the story of David and Goliath. Rebecca drew coloring pages, and we even created a paper Goliath for the kids to throw stones at for an activity.

We showed up at the school and Margaret had some “new hair” and a few extra kids at school today. We only brought coloring pages for the number of students that Margaret has in her class. Nevertheless, I read the story aloud to them with Margaret translating. Rebecca was occupied with a sleeping baby for most of our time there. Once again, they were mesmerized with the story. We passed out the coloring sheets and had them share, the best they could.

As we wrapped up our lesson, we stayed around and talked for a while as we always do. Rebecca was able to share a little more detail and background of the David and Goliath story, sharing how her favorite part of that story is how God had used his role as shepherd and fighting off the lion and bear, to prepare him for this huge task of killing Goliath. Margaret went and pulled out her Bible. I asked what she had been studying and she shared with us Psalm 70 and Psalm 27. She read them to us in Luganda, and I read them from my Bible in English. It was so neat to be able to share with her about how sharing these two particular passages really ministered to us this week.

Margaret’s son Frank (who was there last week because he was home sick from school) was there. Margaret let him skip school since the muzungus were coming today. He offered to “escort” us to meet our group farther into the village. Of course once we arrived, he decided to stay with us (along with the other three kids that joined us along the way). As we were sitting there watching the interns “mud” the house (patching a mud hut with fresh mud), I pulled out The Jesus Storybook Bible  again, and let him read aloud the story of David being chosen as king. It was neat to give him that background and tie it to the story that we studied at school. He was like a little sponge, soaking up every word that I shared with him. At one point, another one of the kids was messing with me, and he told him, “Stop! That belongs my teacher!” My heart was overflowing.

As we were trekking up the narrow dirt trail back to the road, he kept saying, “Teacher Rauren! Teacher Rauren!” As difficult as it was for me, I told him that he needed to go to school next Tuesday. He cannot skip classes just because I am going to be there. Yes, I absolutely want to see him, but Margaret is scraping by to have enough for school fees, and he needs to go. Hopefully he will be home before we leave the village and I will still be able to see him.

One passage that I shared with Margaret today was in Psalm 67:1-3. “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!” The reason that God is gracious to us and blesses us is so that we can take the gospel to the nations. I thank God each and every day that I am here in Uganda that the Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to be here and serve Him. Don’t miss the opportunities that God gives you each and every day to show His love to everyone around you. I thank God that I got to show that love to Margaret and Frank (and others) today!

Middle of the World

July 7, 2014

Today I visited the Southern Hemisphere for the first time, enjoyed a pineapple and mango smoothie, and walked right back to the Northern Hemisphere. Yes, we went to the Ugandan Equator!

I’m so thankful that God brought Rebecca into my life to be my other half for this summer. We’ve experienced many “firsts” together, and I couldn’t have asked for a better friend to be by my side.

The Other Side of the Table

July 6, 2014

I know that I am not a parent, but today I had one of those experiences that gives you a taste of what it must be like. As we are here living life alongside these kids – doing chores with them, helping them get ready for school, doing homework with them, tucking them in to bed at night – you get really attached to them. Well, today, I got to experience some parent conferences at their school, from the opposite side of the table that I am used to sitting on!

Today we had the unique opportunity to attend “Visitation” at Kitende Modern Primary School. This is the school that Rebecca and I are teaching at two days a week this summer, and the school where our Sozo kids attend that are in primary school. Most schools in Uganda you can choose to board at the school if you desire. All children in grades P6 and P7 board at their school because they take national exams those years, and their schoolwork is more rigorous. Most of the other children that board have parents that are working and aren’t home much to take care of them. Visitation days happen in the middle of the term and at the end of the term. It gives parents an opportunity to visit their children who are boarding, and all parents the opportunity to conference with their child’s teacher.

The teachers that we are working with at Kitende invited us to come to visitation because, “You are one of us now!” We did attend visitation after church, but we attended it as “parents” and visited teachers to talk about our Sozo kids. I absolutely loved having the opportunity to hear the teachers (that we have developed relationships with) talk specifically about our kids and their progress at school. Having class sizes of 50-100 kids, I was under the impression that these teachers really didn’t have the opportunity to get to know individual student needs and personalities, especially since the teachers rotate and only teach 1-2 subjects with each class of students. This has been one of the things that I have struggled with the most about education in Uganda because I know how important that teacher/student relationship is in the classroom. However, I was completely blown away today at the things that the teachers had to say about our kids. They completely hit the nail on the head with their personalities, behaviors, and habits and talked about how it affects their performance in the classroom and on exams.

As we traveled from classroom to classroom, the teachers immediately knew which books/exams to pull (which made me feel good that they knew which were Sozo kids) and started sharing with us what they’ve noticed about them. Not only were we able to check in on their progress, we were able to laugh and continue to develop these relationships with the teachers at Kitende. It was so funny to me to be sitting on the other side of the table for a parent conference. I know how stressed and anxious I usually am as a teacher preparing for conferences, because you never know what concerns the parent might have, or how they will take the news you will share with them about their child. Well, sitting on the other side is very similar. I want our Sozo kids to do well in school. I want to see them getting good marks and behaving in class. I want them to take advantage of the opportunity that they have to attend school, especially in a country where that is not necessarily the norm. I gained a whole new perspective today on relationships between parents and teachers, and I know I will have a new appreciation for conferences when the time rolls around for them this fall.

As we left each classroom, the teachers asked us to sign a notebook with our child’s name, parent’s name, contact information, and comments. Although we told each teacher that Aggie, our Sozo Child Development Director, would also be visiting the classrooms, they wanted us to sign as well. They asked, “Will you please give some feedback, good or bad, because most parents don’t understand how to give it?” I had one humorous situation where a particular male teacher, who has been joking with me about coming home with me to the states, asked why I left the “contact information” section blank. After a little banter back and forth, I reminded him that if he needs to contact someone about one of our kids, it needs to be Aggie… NOT me! J

We had a little down time before our driver arrived to pick us up, so Rebecca and I were able to sit down with two of the teachers we have been working with and have a great conversation. We learned all about schools in Uganda… similarities/differences from schools in the states, government v. private, teacher training, class sizes, language barriers, boarding school, textbooks/curriculum, etc. It was exactly the time that Rebecca and I needed to learn some of the things about education that have been swirling around in our heads. I loved every minute of it. In fact, now that I’ve had those conversations and our relationships at Kitende are really building, I don’t want to leave it. But, I have a huge sense of peace about our Sozo kids’ education. It may look very different from what I know education to look like in the states, but it is [right now] the perfect fit for Sozo.

I am so thankful for teachers who are truly living out a life calling loving and educating children. Yes, I realize that is what I do, but I have a much greater appreciation seeing teachers who have the same passions and drive to teach that I do, but are doing it in a situation where they are overcoming so many obstacles, day by day. I have it pretty easy compared to the school situations I’ve seen in so many other places. Seeing such a great need for education all over the world renews my passion for what I am doing. It also has opened my eyes to see so many opportunities to fill gaps and needs. My prayer is that God will continue to show me the steps that He wants me to take to play a small role in His big plan!